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German boys in the 1930s commonly wore lederhosen. Lederhosen were not official Hitler Youth uniform atire, but many Hitler Youth boys wore them. Hitler himself wore them, but stopped doing so in the 1920s, because he was advised that they were somewhat undignified and he was attempting to project a statesman-like image. Himmler also wore them. The one NAZI who continued to wear them was Göring. He had a huge pair to accomodate his sweling girth that he wore at his hunting lodge--Carinhall. Folk costuming had a special place in the Third Reich and thus lederhosen were popular with many ardently nationalistic NAZI parents. We believe that Lederhosen were still a largely regional garment in the 1930s, although their nationalist image may have helped to popularize them somewhat beyond Bavaria. Boys wore Lederhosen for a range of different situations. Some boys may dress up in them, but they seem most common for casual wear and school. We see them being worn casually and to school. Class photographs in the 1930s show many boys wearing lederhosen, especially in Bavaria and southern Germany. Lederhosen were worn by younger boys, but we see younger teenagers commonly wearing them as well. They were commonly worn with the attached halters. We note that they were not commonly worn with colored check shirts as became popular after World War II. We mostly see white shirts in the 30s. Cost may have been a factor in th 30s. Lederhosen were more expensive than regular pants. And most boys id ot have large wardrobes. In addition we think availbility declined as the NAZI rearnament program expanded. Leather was a critical material. The Wehrmacht was still relied heavily on horse power for logistics. And this meant a great deal of leather was required for the military.
German boys in the 1930s commonly wore lederhosen. We note quite a number of boys wearing them in the 1930s. We notice class photographs with several boys wearing them. Note the number of boys wearing Lederhosen in the class photograph here (figure 1). This was, however, highly regional.
The NAZIs emerged as a major political Party in 1930. Lederhosen were not official Hitler
Youth uniform atire, but many Hitler Youth boys wore them. Hitler himself wore them, but stopped doing so in the 1920s, because he was advised that they were somewhat undignified and he was attempting to project a statesman-like image. Himmler also wore them. The one NAZI who continued to wear them was Göring. He had a huge pair tonaccomodate his sweling girth that he wore at his hunting lodge. Folk costuming had a special place in the Third Reich and thus lederhosen were popular with many ardently nationalistic NAZI parents. The NAZIs had an impact
Cost may have been a factor in th 30s. Lederhosen were more expensive than regular pants. And most boys id ot have large wardrobes. In addition we think availbility declined as the NAZI rearnament program expanded. Leather was a critical material. The Wehrmacht was still relied heavily on horse power for logistics. And this meant a great deal of leather was required for the military.
We believe that Lederhosen were still a largely regional garment in the 1930s, although their nationalist image may have helped to popularize them somewhat beyond Bavaria.
Boys wore Lederhosen for a range of different situations. Some boys might dress up in them. This included wear with a suit jacket or Bavarian jacket for church or parties. It also might mean informally casual family activities like picnics and garden parties. Lederhosen seem, however, most common for casual wear and school. Occasionaly boys wore them with their HJ uniforms. We see them being worn casually and to school. Boys wore Lederhosen casually both for home activities and for rough-and-tumble play. They seem especially common for school wear, although this seems to have been regional. Class photographs in the 1930s show many boys wearing lederhosen, especially in Bavaria and southern Germany.
Lederhosen were very common for younger boys in the 1930s. We see many boys wearing them to school. They do not seem, however, to have strong age conventions. We seen teenagers, including older teenagers, wearing them as well. Indeed we also see adults wearing them, although not nerly as commonly as in the 1930s. We do not yet have enough images to fully assess the age of boys wearing Lederhosen during the decade.
They were commonly worn with the attached halters. Almost all the images we have found from the 1930s show boys wearing Lederhosen with halters. This includes both the younger and older boys wearing them. Not all boys with halters or H-bar straps wore Lederhosen, this does not seem as regionally based as Lederhosen themselves. We are not sure, for example, if the boys here all wearing Lederhosen (figure 1).
We notice German boys mostly wearing white shirts commonly short-leeved shirts with Lederhosen. The boys here are a good example (figure 1). Here the boys have not buttoned their collars, but we see many images where the boys have buttined their collars. We also see colored shirts, but white shirts were more common. Normally they were worn in the 1930s as a casual outfit without ties. For some reason this changed after World War II. We begin to see boys very commonly wearing brightly colored check shirts. These checked shirts were not unknown in the 1930s, but they were much less common. We are not sure why this changed took place, but it was in the 1940s after the War.
A HBC reader writes, "Interesting to note that the class picture appears to show children in many age groups and wearing lederhosen seemed to be accepted equally for older as well as younger children." These boys to HBC look to be about 12-13 years old, perhaps 14. They seem to be a normal range fora school class. It certainly shows that lederhosen were not just for little boys, but were popular with younger teenagers as well. The sd thing that comes to mind with viewing this photograph is that aboyt 1940, these boys wouls have been drafted into the Wehrmacht. By tge time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941), all of these boys would have been in the military.
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